^fie Campus ^cno
No. 11
Published by and for the students of North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina 27707
February 12,1981
Runaway may
know child killer
By JAMES M. EVANS
ATLANTA (UPl)
A 15-year-old runaway, once considered a possible victim of
Atlanta’s black child killer, was brought home Tuesday to tell
police about his story “a man in my neighborhood snatched
some kids in December."
Authorities picked up Lee Gooch late Monday night in
Tallahassee, Fla., where he had spent nearly a month in jail,
and immediately headed back to Atlanta.
Gooch, who left his Atlanta home Jan. 5, had been jailed in
Florida on various traffic charges under the name of Lee
Kendell his mother’s maiden name between Jan. 14 and last
Saturday when he was released.
Atlanta officials, not aware he was in Florida, had con
sidered adding him to the city’s list of 17 missing and dead
black children.
Monday, Gooch called the Leon County sheriff’s office in
Tallahassee to see if he could retrieve the car he was driving
when arrested.
When asked if he knew anything about the Atlanta children
cases, Gooch said “a man in my neighborhood snatched some
kids in December. It’s a kidnapping deal.”
He said he only knew the man was black, but he added,
‘There’s a lady in the neighborhood who knows who he is, but
she’s scared to tell.”
None of the 17 youths included in Atlanta’s string of missing
and slain children disappeared in December, but a
spokesman for the Atlanta Police Bureau said Gooch’s story
would be investigated.
Gooch said the first-known victim, Edward Hope Smith, 14,
was “a close friend,” but said he knew none of the other
children. Smith, who disappeared on July 20, 1979, was
found shot to death eight days later.
Gooch told reporters he left Atlanta because of differences
with his father and that was why he had used his mother’s
maiden name.
Meanwhile, several Atlanta City Council members joined
relatives and friends of Lubie “Chuck” Geter Monday at the
NCCU mourns
Lindsey’s death
Darryl Lindsey
funeral of the 14-year-old youth, whose body was found in a
strip of woods in South Atlanta last Thursday.
Geter, who was strangled, was the 15th victim to be found
in the string of missing and slain black children. Two are still
missing.
Opening February 18
New drama production
offers music, surprises
By Kevin L. Dennis
Black actors in “white face’’!
Children in the starring roles!
A cast that includes a six-year-old and a retired
school teacher!
There are plenty of surprises in NCCU’s upcoming drama
production “Steal Away Home,” according’to director Doris
Schneider.
The play, based on the novel by Aurand Harris, deals with
the experiences of two young boys as they escape slavery via
the Underground Railroad and journey to Pennsylvania
where their father, who has been freed, awaits them.
Schneider calls the play a “mixed bag” containing “comedy,
tragedy, music, and a few frightening scenes.” It is a history
lesson as well as family entertainment.
The main characters in the play are David Barnhill, a sixth
grader at Holloway Elementary School; Daron Massey, a fifth
grader at W.G. Pearson Elementary School; and Ricardo
Cobb, a ninth grader at Hillside High School.
Also included in important roles will be Earl Christopher
Norfleet, a first grader at C.C. Spaulding Elementary School,
and Irving Truitt, a ninth grader at Hillside High School.
Ms. Schneider didn’t find it difficult working with the
children. “I never dreamed how rewarding it would be to
work with younger people in drama. They are natural, spon
taneous, and just as dependable and enthusiastic as the
adults,” she said.
In contrast to the children, the role of Preacher Prentice will
be performed by Joseph Drake, a retired school teacher with
over 40 years of teaching experience.
The supporting cast consists of Durham City and County
high school students along with NCCU students and faculty.
They are Jessica Mahaffy, Donna Buie, Gregory Horton, An
thony Moody, Herbert C. Eley, DeWarren Moses, Denise Col
eman, Deborah Anthony, Bob Kennedy, Michael Helton, and
Kevin L. Dennis.
Moving renditions of traditional spirituals allow the story to
take on some of the characteristics of a musical. The
choir—directed by NCCU graduate student Grover Wilson,
Jr.—is composed of Vera Taylor, Lisa Thomas, Denise
Barnes, Hazel Blount, Anne Knight, William Overton, Ra’mon
Simmons II, Sharon Louise Tillman, Tina Torian, and Brenda
Young.
The play will open to public school students February
16—17, and to the general public from 18—22. Tickets may
be obtained form McLaughlin Medical Arts Pharmacy, 2520
Fayetteville St., The Merry-Go-Round at South Square Mall,
and the NCCU Drama Dept. For further information call
683-6242 between 9 a.m. and 12 noon.
By Winfred B. Cross
Over 900 NCCU students, faculty, and staff
members attended a memorial service held
at B.N. Duke auditorium Feb. 5 for Darryl
Dywane Lindsey, a 19-year-old sophomore
from Washington D.C. who died from men
ingitis on Jan. 31.
The Rev. Getho Santho Hill, director of
Central’s United Campus Christian Ministry,
gave the eulogy in which he told the crowd:
“God did not take Darryl. A viscious killer
disease took our friend’s life.”
Head football coach Henry Lattimore, on
the verge of a tearful breakdown, said,
“Darryl Lindsey will be our twelfth man—and
our winning edge for next season.”
Brenda Baldwin, Miss Sophomore, and Ellis
Allen, director of Chidley Hall dormitory, read
poems in Lindsey’s honor. Baldwin read an
original poem titled “Darryl Lindsey,” while
Allen gave a dramatic reading of John
Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud.”
Lindsey’s funeral was held Feb. 6 in
Washington, D.C. at the Holy Temple Church
of Christ. Approximently 60 of Lindsey’s
teammates from Central attended the
funeral. Several of the palyers served as
pallbearers.
Lindsey’s sudden death came as a shock to
his fellow teammates and coach. They
remember him as a kind person.
“He was a real down-to-earth person,” said
Kenneth Pugh, senior quarterback from
Fayetteville. “He was like a little brother to
me.”
Mitchell Buie, a junior wide receiver from
Chicago, III., said Lindsey was “the type of
person who cared about everyone.
“After the Elizabeth City State game Darryl
and I told Kenny (Pugh) that we were going to
the Gold Bowl next year like they did this
year.
“He was a very determined person. He was
deterrnined to be the number one quater-
back.”
Bryan Craig, a sophomore linebacker from
Washington, D.C. said Lindsey was a very
quiet person who “never started any trou
ble.”
Craig played against Lindsey in a high
school all-star game in which Lindsey was
named offensive player of the game.
Angelo Aldridge, a senior linebacker from
Goldsboro, said called Lindsey “the kind of
person you couldn’t dislike.”
Terry Brown, a senior defensive tackle from
Jonesville, described Lindsey as “just Dar-
See LINDSEY, page 3
From the Washington Post and UPl
The death of N.C. Central University
quaterback Darryl Dwayne Lindsey has been
attributed to meningitis—the second such
death in North Carolina this winter.
Lindsey, 19, from Washington, D.C., died
Saturday, Jan. 31, at Duke Medical Center
after being admitted around midnight Friday.
Earlier, Lindsey had gone to the NCCU,
where he was given tylenol and sent back to
his dormitory. Dr. Marcono Hines, student
health services director, said Lindsey had a
fever and chills—symptoms “not atypical for
this time of year.”
“There was no standout symptom to make
us suspect meningitis,” Hines said.
Symptoms of meningitis include a sore
throat, headache, fever, aches, chills, stiff
neck and vomiting.
Teammate Nathan Johnson said Lindsey’s
friends called an ambulance for him after
they walked into his room Friday evening and
“he was laying there burning up.”
Elizabeth Marlowe, an 18-year-old student
at St. Mary’s College in Raleigh, died Jan. 20
from meningitis. She was from Wilson.
Despite the deaths. Dr. John N. MacCor-
mack, head of the communicable disease
branch of the North Carolina Division of
Health Services, said meningitis is a normal
winter disease and the number of cases
reported has not been unusual. He said 12
cases were reported this January, which is-
the same number of cases as in January
1980.
Lindsey did not play football for NCCU last
season because of a fractured ankle. He was
expected to be in the running for the starting
quarterback position next season.
His high school coach, Willie Stewart, said
he was “shocked when he learned of the
death.”
“He had never been sick when he played
for me. That’s why it’s so hard to believe he
had spinal meningitis. He was home last
weekend and had a cold and sore throat he
couldn’t get rid of. His parents were going to
take him to the doctor but he said he would
be fine and, if he didn’t get better, see a doc
tor when he got back to school.
“It was rough because he was the first of
seven brothers and sisters to attend college,”
said Stewart.
An All-Interhigh East selection his senior
year at Eastern, Lindsey completed more
than 55 percent of his passes en route to the
east Division title and the league crown.
He was buried Feb. 7 at Holy Temple
Church 439 12th St. SE at 8:30 p.m.
Qualified black overlooked for principal job
Warren residents
sta&e school boycott
New evening law program
fields ‘exceptional class’
NCCU News Bureau
Seventeen have more than one academic degree and five
have the Ph. D. degree. The group includes one medical doc
tor, two Certified Public Accountants, two computer scien
tists, two senior engineers, five college and university faculty
members, and two librarians.
In this issue
letters, letters, letters
“laugh-olympics”
Eagle Spins
Basketball coverage
They are the first year class in NCCU’s new Evening Law
School Program.
Dean Harry Groves described the 25 students in the class
an “an exceptional group of students.” Applications for the
first class, which began study January 5, totalled 106.
The new students reside in Raleigh, Durham, Norlina, Pitt-
sboro, and Chapel Hill. Almost all are employed full-time in
professional capacities. Their occupations include, in addition
to to those listed above, pharmacy, the drug industry, correc
tions, public education, the postal service, and business.
NCCU’s Evening Program, which increases the university’s
utilization of its new $4.5 million law school facility on the cor
ner of Alston Ave. and Cecil St., will permit students to com
plete requirements for the Juris Doctor degree in four calen
dar years.
Classes will be offered in the summer, and new students
will be accepted for classes beginning in June as well as for
the classes beginning next fall.
The program is the first in North Carolina to offer a com
plete legal education at night.
Solidarity took on a new meaning in Warren
County on February 2, when-over 2,100 of
the school system’s 2,400 black students
stayed home. The Warren County Political Ac
tion Council (PAC) called for the action to pro
test the hiring of a white principal at the new
consolidated high school. Wsrren County
High is scheduled to open in September,
1981 with a student body expected to be
aproximately 80 percent non-white.
In order to demonstrate the broad based
community support it has received, the PAC
proclaimed February 2, “Solidarity Day” and
asked parents to keep their children home.
Of the eight schools in the Warren County
system, the highest percentage of absentees
occurred at South Warren Elementary School
where 92.1 percent of the students stayed
home. The PAC reported that absentees
across the system averaged over 65 percent.
Janice R. Crump, official spokesman for the
group stated, ‘’we feel that this one day effort
was the most significant action that we have
taken to date. It sends a strong message to
the Board of Education; one that says the
parents of at least 2,100 of the 2,400 black
students in the system, have serious con
cerns about the quality of education that
their children are receiving.”
The October, 1980 decision of the Warren
County Board of Education to hire Benjamin
Terrell as principal of the new school, rather
than James Wilkerson, a black man, sparked
a wave of controversy throughout the small
community. “They used a policy of hiring from
within to place a white man in the superinten
dent’s position,” a spokesman for th e PAC
said. “It was the only way they could justify
not hiring the black man with superior
credentials who applied for the job.” The PAC
contends that Wilkerson, already a junior
high principal in Warren County, was equally
qualified and should have been given
preference in the selection process.
Despite repeated expressions of
dissatisfaction from the black community, the
Board has made no moves towards resolving
the issue. Approximately 100 irate citizens
attended the Board’s November, December
and January meetings to reinforce their posi
tion that Terrell was “totally unacceptable” to
the black community.
When the Board refused to change its posi
tion, the PAC called an economic boycott of
Warren County merchants. “We felt that the
Board would respond to pressure from its
constituents,” said one member when ques
tioned about the feasibility of the boycott.
The PAC plans to continue its efforts to
See BOYCOTT, page 3